The Crapbox of Son Of Cthulhu

The Crapbox...Comic books found in the quarter bin or half-off store or the bargain box. The good, the bad and the really ugly. Get ready for a surprise. Updates EVERY Friday and Monday until the Crapbox runs dry. (never happen)

Yesterday
we got the first appearance of the Black Panther, so today I thought I would
double-dip into the same DVD for a look at his origin and the origin of Klaw, a
villain who should make an appearance in the movie.

I
bumped into Klaw in FF 187, much further down the track. It was a great issue
that saw him pair up with the Molecule Man, the guy whose legs we are peeking
though and go a few rounds with the FF. His power set made him formidable and
paired with old zig-zag face, Klaw almost cleaned their clocks. Had it not been
for the timely assist of the very pissed off Impossible Man, who easily handled
both villains, the FF might not have made it to issue 200.

But
let’s take a step back to how we got to Klaw, how T’Challa became Black
Panther, and why their origins are linked events. To do that we have to start
where last issue ended up, with the FF now the Panther’s honored guests, eating
well and watching the dance of friendship…

After
which Ben acts a bit of an ass, which I interpret as him being upset at having
his strength sapped last issue. He goes through most of this one both butt-hurt
and stubbornly bashing his head into creatures that reflect your powers back at
you. Even after Reed explains that what he is doing is useless. I think
T’Challa hurt Ben’s pride.

I
love that bit about the tape recorder. And if you can see where Kirby put it,
the thing is an old reel-to-reel. Don’t get me wrong, those WERE the height of
convenience in sound recording at one time. I remember those days very well.
And how you had to be careful not to get the tape bent accidentally when
rewinding it or you’d have drop-outs in your playback. Times have certainly
changed.

Just
like time has made smoking something that is typically looked down upon as
unhealthy. Here it’s seen as a sign of wealth and coolness. Let’s hope T’Challa
drops the habit before he becomes Black Lungs Panther. Other eras…*sigh*

Getting
to the meat of the dialogue, we learn that T’Chaka was Black Panther’s father
and the leader of this tribe of warriors. Sometime since his death, T’Challa
has used the lands resources to become the richest man in the world.

More
on that in a bit though, as we look in on two members of a territorial patrol
from a neighboring nation are investigating strange animal markings that
they’ve come across when the find a huge hairless red ape. Their gunshots cause
it to explode, dealing a great deal of force back at the men.

As
they rise from the ground, they are assailed by another of the red beasts. This
time the apparition comes in the form of a red, hairless saber-toothed
elephant.

Now
if I came back from patrol talking about giant pink or red elephants…Let’s just
say they might ask me for a blood-alcohol test.

As
the two barely escape with their lives, noting the animal appears to be heading
back to the Wakanda boarder, we switch back to T’Challa’s story.

Ben
comes off as such a rude guest here, but T’Challa is always the perfect host.
When Ben starts acting like T’Challa’s tale of his father is a dime a dozen,
T’Challa unveils a surprise: Vibranium!

The
entire time the group has been sitting on a bench made of solid vibranium. In
the Marvel universe, vibranium is a metal that absorbs any vibration. Captain
America’s shield is made from it and it’s what gives it the ability to absorb
things like Thor’s hammer strike. An entire bench of that stuff could make a
suit of armor that would have the same properties. Or could be used to do a
million other things that might aid nations in coming up with new methods of
generating power or destructive capability, as Reed so rightly notices.

And
one bench isn’t all Wakanda has. No, they have AN ENTIRE MOUNTAIN OF THE STUFF.
That part boggles the mind. It’s like having a village sitting next to some
time of super-concentrated crude oil or supremely rare diamond.

T’Challa
continues talking about his dad and how great a father and chieftain he was…

…and
Ben again acts all superior. I did not know that rocks could get butt-hurt. I DO think this is a hold over from T’Challa
besting him. Ben’s always surly, but typically not in your face mouthy. It’s
sad and offputting to see a character I genuinely like be so rude to others.

T’Challa
is still the perfect host and fast forwards his tale to the moment of his
father’s downfall…the moment Klaw, the Master of Sound makes his appearance in
Wakanda, demanding the vibranium mound. T’Chaka defies him and is viciously
gunned down for standing up to the evil, power mad scientist and his
mercenaries.

T’Challa
rushes to avenge his slain father.

The
villagers are being picked off by Klaw’s superior weaponry as T’Challa comes
across his father’s corpse sprawled with his warriors and it is at this moment
that T’Challa take son the mantel of the Black Panther. In making his way
toward Klaw’s men, he comes across a mercenary carrying a large weapon of
unknown design.

Knocking
the guy out is easy and now T’Challa has the instrument of his revenge. He
follows the trial back to his village, which Klaw is razing. As his people
flee, T’Challa utters a cry of vengeance and the blasts Klaw’s forces. Upon
blasting them a second time he destroys Klaw’s right arm and hand with the
force of the sound beams coming from the strange device.

Gravely
injured, Klaw is forced to retreat. T’Challa ends his tale with how he became
leader of his tribe, sold off small amounts of the vibranium to become rich,
attended the world’s best universities to become well educated and brought all
this back to his people to make Wakanda an unrivaled nation on the African
continent. As for those Panther powers, those are a secret upon which the
Panther keeps mum about.

And
here we get to the conflict in this issue, as the Panther reveals that he
believes Klaw has returned and only by testing himself against the Fantastic
Four could he know that he was worthy to face down the man who murdered his
father.

With
the alarm from that machine we are off to the races, the FF working to take
down Klaw’s sound creatures while the Black Panther takes on the evil genius
himself.

First
Johnny tries his “hand” at burning the sound ape, but all that does is reflect
the heat back at him. Thing comes to his rescue…

…And
ends up fighting though flames to land a punch that dislodges the lad…

…but
reflects the force of the blow back at them in the form of a tremendous sonic
boom.

Ben
is still miffed over the drubbing he’s gotten for two issues now and while
Wyatt and the rest of the FF take a defensive posture of getting out of the way
and planning something other than a direct attack on the “red menace,” Ben
decides to double-down on the smack the thing in the face with force argument.
He lifts up a boulder and heads off, while the Black Panther takes to the trees
like his namesake, heading for Klaw’s hideout.

Once
there he knocks out the guards and confronts the man who killed his father, who
now sports an incredible weapon instead of a right hand.

Klaw
taunts at destroying Panther with a quick shot from his gauntlet, but instead
sends a sound-created red panther after him. The thing looks to be pretty ferocious,
so T’Challa might end up a “Black-and-Blue Panther” by the time it’s done with
him.

Ben,
meanwhile chunks a rock at the sound elephant, with the predictable result of
it bashing the rock right back into him. Not one to give up a fight…like, ever…Ben grabs a
hold of the sound-a-phant and lifts it off the ground, taking damage all the
while. This IS the guy that goes toe-to-toe with the Hulk every year or so.

The
construct fades just as Ben’s strength flags and Wyatt swings in to check on his
rocky pal.

With
the FF back together, they finally realize the Panther has made off while they
were tussling with the sound creatues…

T’Challa,
has his hands full at the moment, wrestling the sound panther to a standstill.
In a display of great strength and wisdom, our favorite African king out lasts
the sound beast, the resultant battle not phasing T’Challa near the amount it
did Ben. This proves the Black Panther isn’t just a battler, but someone who
employs strategy to defeat his enemies.

Unfortunately,
it looks like Klaw has finally decided to just take T’Challa out instead of
messing around. But T’Challa has a surprise in store for our villain…

With
a swift action, T’Challa flips the switch that will cause an overload in Klaw’s
sound system, a sort of Mega-Bass is what’ I’m envisioning this to be, and the
entire complex boom-boxes itself to pieces. Panther escapes and the constructs
the FF are fighting vanish without a trace.

T’Challa
thinks his days as Black Panther can now be put behind him, but Reed tells him
that they could use his help in the fight against evil. After a moment of
thought, T’Challa agrees, pledging “my fortune, my powers, my very life to the
service of all mankind.” Pretty cool and the FF gets a new supporting cast
member for a time.

As
for Klaw? Well he decides to upgrade himself by jumping in his own sound reactor.
The results of which wouldn’t be shown until Fantastic Four #56.

With
that, we’ll take our leave of the 60’s era Black Panther and move on to some
more recent, albeit not as popular, appearances of T’Challa. More on him next
blog post!

Opening
today nationwide is the Marvel movie The Black Panther, and I’m pretty hyped
for it. The Black Panther was the first superhero in mainstream American comics
of African descent, having debuted years before African-American heroes the
Falcon (1969), Luke Cage (1972) and John Stewart’s Green Lantern (1971).

What
we are saying in very precisely worded terms is The Black Panther was the first
black-skinned superhero in mainstream comics.

There
were other black heroes before him in comics, but none with actual superpowers.
As well, there were various supporting characters who were black, but many of
them were portrayed as caricatures. Which is a nice way of saying they were drawn
in an almost disparaging way, with oversized lips and eyes.

Damn it, Will Eisner!
Not you TOO!

It
is important to bring up how different the Panther was from what had come
before. To NOT whitewash history or apologize for mistakes made by our
predecessors when it came to giving equal treatment to people of all colors and
nationalities, but to recognize how differently black characters were treated
until around the time that Panther came along.

I
first encountered the Panther in Steve Englehart’s Avengers, working alongside
the Beast as they attempted to use the Zodiac’s Star Blaster thing to kill off
the beast known as the Stalker from the Stars in Avengers # 124. Not a stellar
issue, to be certain and Panther’s part in it was on par with what you expect
from an ensemble piece like Avengers. He did come off as a tech genius and a
powerful physical fighter. And a fully accepted member of the team. THAT made
an impact for me.

If
T’Challa was good enough for those guys, he was certainly a superhero in my
eyes.

I
didn’t know where he came from or his origin, but I liked that the Avengers had
another powerful and smart member in the fight against evil.

And
since many of you may not know either, I thought we should explore that.
Starting with his first appearance way back in Fantastic Four number 52, which
takes us back to the magic days of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Of course, I don’t
have issue number 52, which is sure to become a “mortgage your house if you
want to buy a copy graded at a 1.0” comic, if it isn’t already. It’s an
important issue for lots of reasons.

After
our opening Splash, we jump right into Reed, Sue, and Ben zooming around in a spiffy
little Kirby-tech vehicle. Ben asks Reed when he had time to build it and we
learn from the exposition that this high-tech magnetic flyer came as a gift
from the mysterious African Chieftain called Black Panther.

Reed
puts the craft through its paces, making Ben airsick in the process before
landing back at the Baxter Building in front of the Black Panther’s Emissary.

While
Sue sees to Ben’s malady, Reed accepts the craft (note it’s such a cool toy
that he’s delighted to get accept it)
and the Emissary pulls out a tiny headset to communicate with Wakanda. Reed looks
on incredulous to all this undiscovered technology, chomping at the bit to have
a look at it.

This
is the first time we hear of Wakanda and note the dichotomy Kirby and Lee set
up with the more traditional African dress, which looks primitive with its off
the shoulder draping of the robe and sash exposing one side of the person’s
chest, to the clearly higher tech tools the Emissary is using. This is a cool
story element, to take a culture we generally view as less advanced then our
own and turn our perceptions of it on their ear. Making Wakanda so much more
advanced than modern America was a stroke of genius. As an audience member, I want
to know all about this place now.

So
the story does just that, we see this odd juxtaposition continue as we meet T’Challa
for the first time. He is surrounded by a rowdy crowd carrying both primitive spears
and advanced machine guns. There are hints of ceremonial drums and shade
bearers, yet the largest structure shown in the panels is the Panther totem,
which rises up to expose the technological trappings of something beyond modern.

Again,
all this does is whet our appetite for more. There are story hints of a “great
hunt” and we get right away that this will set T’Challa’s Black Panther against
the FF in some way, what is unknown is if it will be a friendly competition or
if he is a deadly foe. LOTS of things to draw us into the book at this point,
right?

We
see the Panther in his outfit for the first time and note the lack of ears in
that panel. Kirby was still fleshing out the look, which had changed in
coloration greatly. Originally mock-ups of the Black Panther looked much more
like the villain Madcap from Daredevil/Power pack with lots of yellow and
purple. This more subdued all blue-black is SO much better.

Then
we head to Metro College, where we find Johnny’s studies interrupted by Ben’s
tom-foolery. I like that Lee and Kirby took Johnny seriously and gave him arcs
that showed he worked to advance himself. Too often Johnny is left as the
colorful mischief maker who is an emotional hot-head just out to skirt chase
and have fun. Lee and Kirby showed he had more than one side.

We
also get a view of Wyatt Wingfoot, the FF’s constant companion for several
adventures and one of the first major Native American characters in comics. I
have a fondness for Wyatt, too. He’s the non-powered sidekick that perseveres
under pressure and, as we will see today, is instrumental in the FF’s fight against
injustice.

And
here they invite Johnny, and by extension Wyatt, along with them for the trip
to Wakanda. The page ends with a peek into the Great Refuge of the Inhumans.

Here
we have an ongoing subplot of the Inhumans who are trapped within their own
city by the machinations of the insane Maximus and the struggles of Karnak, who
can find the weakness in any structure, attempting to break though the barrier
holding them in.

He
fails and we leave this plot thread to travel back to the FF, a still sleeping
Wyatt and the Emissary approaching Wakanda in what looks to be a very cramped
flying car. Note that Wyatt looks like they just scooped him up without waking
him and deposited him in the boot of this vehicle. I find that funny for some
reason. Like the FF stole the college student right out of his bed.

We
move out of the African jungle on the very next page and abruptly into a full-on
Kirby cosmic science lab, which is supposed to be under the foliage of the above
jungle. The FF are astonished, the Emissary disappears, and Wyatt wakes up.

The
Thing catches sight of the Emissary descending into the ground on some kind of
platform deal, so he bum rushes it…only to run into a trap that shocks him silly.
The blast leaves Ben weakened, exactly as the Black Panther planned. And
speaking of the Panther, he chooses this moment to make himself known to the
quintet by leaping down from a perch and Jean Claude Van Damming Johnny and the
helpless Ben.

Which
means it’s Rumble in the Jungle time as the rest of the FF rush to the rescue.
Before Wyatt can get his head handed to him by the Panther (and remember I LIKE
Wyatt, but seriously T’Challa would clean his clockworks in less time than it
takes to read this parenthetical), Johnny flames on and attempts to flash fry
the African superhero. Which is also exactly what Panther had anticipated,
leading Johnny into a flame proof cage, which drops into the floor.

We
turn back to our foursome planning how to react to this unexpected combat
greeting while T’Challa looks on. Ben wants to go all “tear the joint up” but surprisingly
Wyatt talks him down. I like that he gets to be a man of action from the get go. While the FF act as decoys, Wyatt slips away to track the Panther.

Now
some might say the Native American scout thing is a trope and a stereotype,
which I’ll grant is a valid complaint. However, Wyatt becomes a pretty deep
character over the course of his time with the FF, and Kirby-Lee don’t overuse
those clichés about his heritage to exclusively define who Wyatt is. I always
viewed him as a bit of Doc Savage mixed with the common man. A little stronger,
wiser, and better than us, but still human.

While
Wyatt disappears, Reed confides in the others that he doesn’t think the Panther
is trying to kill them and feels this is more of a test than anything. He’s
curious as to his motives, but doesn’t use the word “deadly” or “dangerous”. Reed’s
superior intellect doesn’t save the trio from being tagged with repulsive magnetic
anti-polarity beams though. The beams send the three of them hurtling away from
each other negating the advantage of teamwork.

T’Challa
goes after Sue first and manages to not only discern her location with his heightened
senses. He springs on her before she can put up a force field…

…and
knocks her out with fingertip gas jets which I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen
him use since. Then he goes after Ben, who has predictably drunk from a water
pool (like a horse. Who slides up to an ornamental pool and starts gulping down
handfuls? I mean, seriously Ben!) which was laced with a drug to keep him weak.
The Panther brawls with him a bit…

And
even takes a few punches, but a final feint gets Ben entangled in a cable carrying
a charge powerful enough to knock him out. Three down and one to go.

Wyatt
has meanwhile snuck around and taken out one of the monitoring posts before
coming across a portion of the floor that feels hot. Putting two and two together,
Wyatt knows this has to be where Johnny is trapped and he sets about trying to
free him.

But
time has run out for Reed. He faces the intellect and cunning of the Panther,
who turns out the lights on him. Thus hobbled, Reed has a hard time fighting
off an enemy with the Black Panther’s exceptional senses. Not only that…

…but
he is leading Reed into a trap. With his arms pinned, that makes the Panther
four for four and would have been the end of this, except that Wyatt has freed
the Torch and between them they have gathered the others. They free Reed and
are able to turn the tables on the Panther.

While
Reed boasts that without the element of surprise, the Panther wouldn’t have
caught them, I’m not quite sure. Not to mention it does take all four of them
to corner this cat. T’Challa’s subjects rush to his aid, but Johnny holds them
back. At this, the Panther yields and the FF listen as he starts an explanation…That’s
continued next issue….

So,
there is the Panther’s first adventure where he takes out the Fantastic Four
but is foiled by the courage of Wyatt Wingfoot. It’s great that we have two
such characters in this book. It shows that as early as five years after its
inception that Marvel started adding diversity initiatives to the stories it
produced. This story is respectful to both Wyatt and T’Challa’s characters, showing
each as honorable, brave and smart, all the while pitting them against each
other in a contest of strategy and skill.

To
finish off I think it is important to see what impact the Black Panther had on
the readers back in 1966. To that we turn to the letters pages in the issues
that followed…

First
off, a generally positive review of both new characters and a call out to their
ethnic backgrounds being a boon.

And
then one with thinly veiled racism. Wyatt is good but the Panther is “ridiculous”
and the writer represents “a group in his neighborhood” that feels the same. I
assume they get their Klan robes all done at the same dry cleaners.

Whatever
the gripes, they had no weight on Marvel. Lee and Kirby continued to push the social
envelope in their stories, in as much a way as Roddenberry did with Star Trek. And
because of them we have a movie opening tonight that should be stellar,
ground-breaking, family entertainment. My ticket is for Saturday morning, so until
then I’ll just have to keep reading Black Panther comics out of the Crapbox, which
isn’t a bad substitute at all.